All the arguments that erupted between the Baltimore Orioles and Montreal Expos upon their move to D.C., of course made the relationship between the Orioles and
the new Washington Nationals a bit tenuous at first. That situation seemed to resolve however in 2007 when the
Nationals and the Orioles took that battle right to the field here at Harbor
Park on March 30th in front of a sold out crowd of 12,500. G.M. Dave Rosenfield
was thrilled to see the Orioles bringing a return of Major League exhibition back
to Norfolk again after the New York Mets had seemed to take their 3 1/2 decade relationship with Norfolk for granted... skipping
the time honored tradition of New York Major League exhibition baseball
being played in Norfolk which dated back to the days of Bain Field in 1934. Barack Obama also made great use of this ballpark holding political rallies
here in 2008. *wiki. Harbor Park has also been home to several notable concerts
but the biggest was a festival featuring Willie Nelson and John Cougar Mellencamp
opening for the great Bob Dylan who started off with Rainy Day Women #12
& 35 (aka "Everybody must get stoned") and finishing with All Along the Watchtower.
As for the Norfolk Tides themselves... over the course of most of their
years here, they've drawn over or at least very close to... half a million fans
per season every season.